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Just what I expected

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Over the years, I thought this movie was just okay. During Christmas 2016, I started buying up new Christmas horror movies such as Secret Santa, All Through the House, Cannibal Claus, and Jack Frost on blu-ray. I decided to buy this on Blu-Ray too. I gotta say, it's really starting to grow on me after seeing it clearer and crisper. The story is interesting about a creepy guy named Harry Stadling who works at a toy company and obsessed with Christmas, and even spies on children to see if they're being naughty or nice and writes about them in a book. Harry really is an interesting character. He tries to become Santa. He dresses like him all year long. This year, he puts on a Santa suit, complete with glued on whiskers and goes around delivering toys from his company (Jolly Dreams Toy Factory) to needy children at the local orphanage. One minute he's happy and jolly, partying with people, then the next he's slaughtering people at church. Brandon Maggart who plays Harry did his job well. Harry is a true psychopath. You never know what he'll do next. It's almost as good as Silent Night, Deadly Night. If you want a good creepy Christmas horror classic, you'll love Christmas EVIL!!!

Okay, "Christmas Evil" aka "You Better Watch Out" (which IMO is a better title) is a film I approached expecting something "slasher" in nature. It is not. I would probably describe it as a movie about a man who is losing his mind due to an obsession with Santa and Christmas. And we get to witness this firsthand. This does not make it a bad film. I actually liked it somewhat. The lead character is pathetic. He is a man who was traumatized as a child when he found out that Santa Claus was make believe. As an adult, he is seen living in a kind of Christmas Fantasy world at home and trying to influence others around him to be kinder,etc.He is played by veteran character actor Brandon Maggart who is excellent in the role. You will see a number of familiar faces in this one too. It seems a bit TV movie like and I think this makes it even more interesting. NOT a horror film but a look at a man basically losing his marbles to a Christmas song.

Harry loves Christmas, maybe a little too much. His house is decorated for the festive period all year round, and he constantly sings Christmas songs. He's also an employee at a local toy factory and keeps an eye on the local kids to see who's good and who's bad (he keeps both bad and good books in his house). Harry's problem is that he's a good guy trapped in a world full of arseholes who constantly take advantage of his good side. Like the guy in his work who dupes him into working a shift, or the new management who couldn't care less about Christmas. What's a guy to do? Well, Harry's not the most stable person, and gradually loses his mind as he sees the true meaning of Christmas being forgotten in amongst all the money grabbing and bad kids. So, being a big Christmas fan, he decides to 'become' Santa so that everyone gets what they deserve, good kids and bad kids, and good adults and bad adults.He glues his beard on, paints a sleigh on his van and…well I won't say much else. There's not much horror in this film, beside a couple of killings (mainly folks who don't like Santa), plus a fair amount of pathos and touching moments as Harry really does play the Santa bit to the full for the kids. Sadly most of the adults don't understand and the cops are out to get him. Throw in a torch bearing mob and a weird ending and you've got a film that's a must-see. Part horror, part drama and all round weird tale with quite a bit of emotion, Christmas Evil stands out as a film that's hard to categorise, but that's what makes it so good in the first place. A real gem.

All-Star Video | BlogspotChristmas Evil is such a strange, hybrid-genre film, I can see why the marketing is so terrible. All the posters, descriptions, and trailers are misleading. It gets lumped in with Silent Night, Deadly Night and Black Christmas, but I think that's a problem. Those are both great films, but this is not really a slasher film. This is not a horror film. This is a genuinely original psychological film more in the vein of George Romero's Martin or Taxi Driver than Halloween. That being said, it's got some genuinely crazy awesome gore sequences and is extremely entertaining. Harry Stadling (brilliantly played by Brandon Maggert) is forever scarred when he decides to go downstairs on Christmas Eve to see the real Santa Claus and instead sees, what we presume is his dad, getting physical with his mom. Not surprisingly, the kid is disturbed. To be fair, that's pretty messed up. As a result Harry grows up overly obsessed with Christmas. He keeps tabs on the neighborhood kids, spying on them with binoculars and writing them down in the good boys and girls book or the bad boys and girls book.Harry works at a toy manufacturing shop, Jolly Dream, and has recently been promoted to manager, where he is horribly sad that he no longer works directly with the toys. His coworkers are douchebags and one of them fools Harry into working one of his shifts so that he can go out with his wife, but in reality he is going to the bar with his friends, which Harry sees in a later scene. Harry's bosses laugh at him for wanting to donate a lot of toys to the children at Willowy Springs (the horrible State Hospital). Harry becomes more and more agitated as he sees all these people not having the Christmas spirit. On Christmas Eve, Harry has finally had enough. He paints a sweet Santa sleigh on the side of his van and glues a white beard to his face, but then seems to immediately regret it, trying his best to tear it off. Maggert here takes over the role completely with his eyes and shows the mad desperation growing within Harry. He embraces the becoming of Santa.From here, Harry steals toys from Jolly Dream to bring to the Hospital. It's really quite amazing how the tone of this movie continues to shift. Harry's generosity is genuinely touching. This is the moment that every great Christmas movie is able to capture, the idea that the Christmas spirit is all about generosity. And yet, it then changes quickly again as he parks his sleigh van outside his bosses' church as they attend Midnight Mass. As the parishioners exit the church, some yuppie bastards in their 20s notice Santa outside standing by his van. They immediately approach him. One of them says to him:"Well, Santa, are you ready for a busy night?"Harry responds, "I have something for you." The smarmy bastard replies, "Oh, what is it? I have superlative taste." (how outstanding is that?Harry then stabs the yuppy in the eye with the gun of a toy soldier. It's super grotesque and incredible. He sinks a hatchet into the other yuppie's head and then runs to his sleigh van to escape. The gore effects are cheesy but awesome. But, Jackson lets the camera linger on the leftover chaos. What could just be a really sweet, and super funny, moment suddenly turns very dark. I found myself laughing and then immediately getting quiet. Harry comes across a Christmas party and stops to watch through the window. Harry's sad eyes linger on the happy group, and then two men inside notice Harry and bring him inside. Awkwardly, Harry enters the group, but is soon caught up in the excitement and after much merriment, Harry delivers an amazing monologue to the children at the party:"And, I'll bring you something... horrible."Harry is chased by mobs of people searching for the killer Santa Claus. From there, Harry gets stuck in a chimney, has his revenge on his co- worker, gets choked out by his brother, and then punches his brother in the face. With a great surprise ending, Jackson has provided us with what is fast becoming my favorite Christmas movie.-J. Moret, allstarvideo.blogspot.com